Monday, April 09, 2012

L’Odyssée Ten

Advertising: Yes, it's an ad. An ad for luxury goods that you will probably never be able to afford. You won't care. I don't even wear jewelry and I didn't care.

Bejewelled: In the film diamonds explode, and creatures made of precious stones abound in a jewelled forest, but the show stopper is definitely the bracelet worn by Shalom Harlow, the model who plays The Lady in the Mansion. The one-of-a-kind piece features the iconic panther with onyx spots and emerald eyes, and a 51.58 carat green beryl.

Cartier Who?: Cartier is a French jeweler and watch maker. You sometimes see their ads in expensive fashion magazines. One of the Cartiers (Pierre, I believe) was famous for resetting the Hope Diamond. Cartier has also been in business for 165 years, and this is how they decided to celebrate that. Can I invite them to my next birthday party?

Dragon: Among other things, French special effects studio Digital District created a CG dragon made of gold and gems for the film.

Epic: The film was shot on locations in France, Spain and Italy.

Music: Pierre Adenot, the composer who wrote the score for the ad, conducted an 84-piece orchestra to perform the music. He's also something of a musical prodigy; at age 15 he wrote his first piece of music for film for Bruce Mallier's La Réussite.

Panthers: The panther is Cartier's house icon, and in the film they used three real, living ones.

Time: It took two years to film, score and produce the three-and-a-half minutes you see.

Watch: To see a better version of the full film, go to Cartier's web site and find it here.